Grand Prize Winner
by MuggleBeene
Summary: Moving back to the UK was supposed to make life easier for Charlie Weasley, but instead of just having the expected struggles of managing a new dragon reserve there's the unexpected surprise of winning a contest he never entered. A contest from a witch's magazine he's never read before is going to change all of his plans. Non-Canon, not part of the Professor Muggle series.
1. Congratulations

**Grand Prize Winner**

 _2017_

 _The ability to play a prank is partially genetic, partially taught, and often a combination of the two. For the most part the pranks are not harmful, have no lasting impact and make everyone laugh, even the person who is the target of the prank. Sometimes, though, what is intended and what happens are very different. The history of pranks for those of Weasley and Potter lineage is well known, but sometimes it is the one least expected who pulls off the greatest endeavor, one spoken of for years. In the end everyone agreed it turned out for the very best, with the added bonus of making sure nobody took the perpetrator for granted._

-ooo-

It was a typical early-summer morning at Grimmauld Place, as James was still asleep, Albus was reading a Muggle comic book and everybody else was too busy to see the owl. Lily saw it, though, and as her mum continued to work the cooker and her dad read the paper and drank coffee she slid off her chair and went over to the door. After loosening the latch and pushing open the top half of the door the owl came in and instead of going to her father, as most of the owls did, Lily watched it land on the counter next to her mum.

"Lily, can you get the owl?" Ginny moved the last of the breakfast pans into the sink. "Please?"

After taking the letter from the owl she looked at it for a moment. The writing looked sort of familiar but it had her mum's name on it, so she waited until the dishes were out of her hands and handed it to her mum. Heading back to the table she had just sat down when she heard her mum burst out laughing.

The paper moved down and Lily watched her dad look interested. "Another one of George's things? Or has Ron been Ron again?"

"It's Charlie." Ginny sat down and shook her head. "I'm guessing George did this. Signed him up for a contest and Charlie won it."

"OK, so not too bad." Harry nodded. "So what'd he win? A year's supply of chocolate frogs?"

"That'd be really brilliant." Al looked up from his comic. "Just think, I'd finally get..."

"No, not chocolate frogs." A smirk grew over Ginny's face. "Complete makeover."

"I did it!" Lily pumped her arms in triumph and then grew nervous. She sat back in her chair. "It was me." As the exclamation 'what' came out of her parents' mouths simultaneously, she looked over to her brother, tone questioning and cautious. "It's funny, right?"

Al nodded. "Yeah, I guess. So they put him in posh clothes and fix his hair." After a shrug and a mouthful of cereal he nodded again. "They'll have to take photos so, yeah. Not bad."

Ginny bit her lip slightly and turned to her husband. "It's not just photos and clothes. This is much bigger. _Much_ bigger. Looks like Lily and I will be going to Wales today."

-ooo-

Charlie Weasley sat in what was currently acting as the office in his house. Acting, as the room was originally part of the barn, as was most of what he was using as a house. He'd purchased the place at the beginning of the year, when he'd taken the management position at the newly opened dragon reserve in the Welsh mountains. As it was a brand new refuge it didn't have the accumulated housing and infrastructure of the Romanian reserve, so as they were focusing on the dragons instead of the staff he'd purchased what was listed as a few outbuildings and a 'fixer upper' house on a good bit of land. It had been a working farm for magical crops at one point, but the previous owners had sold things off bit by bit until there really wasn't much farmland left, just the buildings and a bit of trees and such.

The house was actually in worse shape than the pictures he'd seen, so he'd moved into the most stable structure, the barn. Thankfully the winged horses once kept there required a good bit of space, so the rooms he'd portioned off for himself were generous. His mum was aghast, of course, and had sent him several architecture and home improvement magazines, but he'd simply stacked those in the corner. Seeing those from the corner of his eye reminded him of one of the biggest adjustments he'd had to make after moving to Wales; mail. He'd received it in Romania, of course, but back then it was purposeful mail. Now along with the usual correspondence he got adverts, magazines, you name it. Sometimes it was a good thing he'd opened the mail, like the time he'd almost thrown away what looked to be an advert but turned out to be a letter from a prospective dragon keeper, but most of the time it was just a bunch of shite. The last one he'd opened that wasn't crap, though, but had made him walk and rant for a few moments before writing his sister. He'd thought about Flooing her but his fireplace wasn't connected yet, even though he'd sent in the paperwork weeks ago.

He sat at the table and sipped his coffee, black as usual, and waited for Ginny. As he contemplated making another cup he replayed everything over in his head, the situation he was in, and how George had gone too far this time. He had no idea about anything to do with makeovers so he'd contacted his sister. Merlin knows she'd spent hours with all those witch magazines as a kid, trying out daft hairstyles. She'd know what to do.

Ever since moving back to Wales to take over the small, privately-funded dragon refuge, ever since then he'd been subjected to George's humour. Where before he'd been in Romania, too far away for most of his brother's lunacy, now he was in Wales, an easy owl's flight away, which George had taken full advantage. The first few months had been irritating at best, infuruiating at the worst, as George's attempts to make up lost time were starting to get old. With his breath coming in a more deliberate, slower cadence Charlie thought about how even at this age he was going to pull the older brother card on George. If that failed there was always the tried-and-tested formula of wrestling him down on the ground, pinning an arm behind his back and farting on his head.

While despairing that he hadn't had chili the night before he heard a pop outside and a slight twinge on his skin, which meant that Ginny was there. Instead of going to the door, though, he went to the small, camping cooker that was setup and started the fire with his wand. He could do with coffee but his sister always preferred tea. It was as he was setting the kettle on the cooker when the door opened.

"Harry would be horrified, no security."

Charlie felt a grin break out over his face and turned to answer his sister when he stopped mid-sentence. He closed his mouth, ran a hand over his beard and gave his niece a look, brows narrowed. "I felt the wards, but why'd you bring the pixie? She in trouble?"

Ginny didn't answer him, instead she looked down to her daughter. "Well?"

Lily winced and then...it all came out in a rush, hands going about wildly. Her brothers had been entering Charlie in all sorts of contests, from the ones in the back of the Marvin the Mad Muggle comics to the ones in the Daily Prophet, but hadn't won anything. When she'd come to them with her idea they told her it wouldn't work, that the idea was dumb, and that just made her mad. It wasn't a dumb idea, entering Charlie into all the contests and drawings in the magazines for witches. James had told her it didn't matter, that every entry was just the same as the others, and she realised he was right but the way he told her just made her mad. So she entered all the contests in women's magazines while searching until she found the perfect contest. And then one day she found the perfect contest, filled out the form, sent in the money and hoped for the best.

"Wait...sent in the money?" Charlie looked to his niece. "What? How much..."

"Two Galleons." Lily nodded emphatically. "I used my allowance and made James pay me back and..." she scrunched up her eyes as she knew it was going to be bad. "...I told dad I needed something for school but sold his autograph to Jenny. I needed money! It was a Galleon a ticket so I had to buy two, better chances that way."

"You did what? Lily Luna...Merlin, a Galleon a ticket? Wait...a Galleon a ticket?" Ginny scowled at her daughter "We'll talk later." Then she turned back to her brother, trying to remember something, and then, as a dawning realisation came over her, sighed. "Charlie, can I see the letter they sent you?"

"Sure. Tea?"

After a glance at her watch Ginny nodded. "But you may need something stronger if it's what I think it is."

As Ginny stood at the makeshift desk and read the letter Charlie looked over to his niece, who was going back and forth between feeling proud of herself and a bit nervous. He kept his eye on her as he sat down and overly-exaggerated rubbing his beard in thought.

Taking the bait Lily came closer to him. Uncle Charlie had always been one of her favourite uncles, only slightly below Ron, but that was because he was always so far away in Romania. Now, though, she wasn't sure if she'd done something bad. "I'm pretty sure you don't have to do the makeup. For the makeover."

'Maybe I'd like a bit. Play up my eyes." He smirked. "They told you it was dumb, and you'd show them, right?" As Lily seemed to relax and smile a bit he continued. "I know what that's like, Bill always did stuff..."

"Charlie?"

Ginny's voice had a hesitancy about it, making him turn to her, a bit nervous. "It's not that bad, is it?" 

"Bad? No. Not bad." She looked at her daughter for a moment, shook her head, and turned back to her brother. "It's actually wonderful. I know the contest. Witch Weekly ran a story about it along with...it's a charity sweepstakes. All proceeds go to charity. All the companies involved are donating..."

He shrugged. "So I get a makeover, they put some clothes on me I'd never buy, give me a wonky haircut, take some pictures and it all goes to charity. I'm fine with that."

"Hmmmm...no." Ginny shook her head. "It's a total makeover. Total. Clothes and hair are just the start."

While looking at his sister he understood what she meant, sort of, and nodded. "So are they gonna paint my house, then? Good luck on that."

"Nope." Ginny turned the pages of the letter over to the last page. "Total makeover. It's more than painting your house..." She paused. "...even if this technically isn't a house, it's furnishings, the garden, and...well, I think you should read this. Like you were Percy read this."

After taking the letter from his sister, with a sigh Charlie turned to Lily, who seemed fairly proud of herself. "I might just give you what I had planned for George, when I thought he did this."

"What?" Lily smirked at him, freckles prominent on her cheeks. "Are you gonna jinx me?"

"Nope. Fart on your head."

Lily shrugged. "Big deal. I live with James an' Albus."

-ooo-

Sunday at the Burrow usually meant that a good smattering of Weasleys were in attendance, but the Sunday after Charlie won the Grand Makeover Prize was fully attended. Some wanted to find out exactly what he'd won (even though they'd read about it) while others wanted to tease the Weasley brother who was finally back home after all those years. Mostly they all wanted to wanted to be there when Molly went mental with happiness, especially about his hair; she'd been wanting to cut it for years and now she'd have a professional, a top professional, tell him that he needed to cut it.

As the smaller kids ran about the Burrow Charlie sat on a sofa by the window, looking at Quidditch Weekly while Percy and Hermione sat at the table, going over the letter as well as the new information packet he'd received. He'd endured a good bit of teasing so far, especially from George and Bill but also a surprising amount from Harry and Ron. While George and Bill would come up with the most outlandish things, Ron would throw in something every now and then while Harry would act as if he was contemplating what they said and then say something even stupider. Charlie knew they were having him on, there was no way they'd dress him up worse than Gilderoy Lockheart and parade him through all the magical cities of Europe. Was there?

"Here."

Charlie looked up to see his dad holding out a cup of tea. He took it and quickly took a sip, balancing it as his father sat down. "Thanks."

"Quite welcome. I must say your mum is thrilled, you know."

"All because of a contest?"

"What? No. Well, yes, in a way, but mostly that you're home. You're in Britain, that you've changed house. Wales is...oh blast it, you know what I mean." He gave Charlie a quick pat on the arm and then his tone turned serious. "You aren't really mad at Lily, are you? She's worried."

"No, I'm not. Irritated, yeah, sure, I mean, I'm busy trying to get the Reserve off the ground, and now I've got to do some stuff. Those two..." he motioned towards Percy and Hermione "...are trying to figure out exactly what I have to do versus what they want me to do."

Arthur nodded, pushed his glasses back up on his nose and raised his eyebrows. "Might be best to play along. It is for a good cause, you know, Muggleborn orphans and squibs, and bit of publicity for your new Reserve might be helpful. You do take donations, correct?"

"Charlie?" Hermione's voice caused everyone to look, as her voice was the auditory version of the shock on her face. "You were m...you're div..." She paused, took a deep breath and then looked over to him with a smile just barely held in check. "As part of the contest you agreed to allow a full background check."

"Standard." Percy sat back in his chair across the table. "Ensures someone meets all eligibility standards and doesn't have any..."

"Oh fuck." Charlie sat back on the sofa, letting his head fall against the window. "I knew it would come out, she said it'd be fine, but no. Figures."

"Charles! Language." Molly entered the room, wiping her hands on her apron. "What..."

Hermione had turned the parchment around so Percy could read, and after he read the two of them looked over to Charlie. At this point everyone in the room was looking at Charlie.

"Fine." He pulled his head off the back of the sofa and looked at them, glaring at George on the way, until he landed on his mother. "Mum, you know how you're always telling me I need to get married?"

Molly shook her head. "It would be nice..."

"Well I was once. I got divorced." He looked over to the source of the laugh, only to see his sister covering her mouth. "What? Is...oh."

"I _was_ right!" Ginny pumped her fist and looked over to her husband. "Ha! Told you!" Eyes bright and with a giant smile on her face she turned to Charlie. "It's who I'm thinking, right?"

"It is. Stupid Harpies." He ran a hand over his beard and looked at all the expectant faces, bar one. "It's Gwennog Jones, we were only married for like a couple of months, and hardly together, she said she'd get Harpies to keep it quiet." He stared at his sister, eyebrows narrowed. "But apparently even if Harpies can keep their mouths shut it doesn't matter."

As everybody began talking Percy took out a piece of parchment and began writing. Once the tumult had sort of died down he cleared his throat. "Charlie, if somehow you and Gwennog are still on good terms I'll add her to the list. You'll be going to the Hecate Ball once this is over, as the final part of the contest winner's obligations, and you will need a date. At least we have confirmation that she..."

"Stuff it, Perce." Charlie gave him a two-fingered salute, which led to more laughter, teasing and general annoyances. As he sat there, drinking tea, he realised that there was at least one reason why he liked Romania.

-ooo-

Two weeks after he'd won the grand prize Charlie stood a good distance away from his house, well, the barn, and flicked his wand at the standard-sized cauldron, increasing the flames underneath. The cauldron's colour shifted to white-hot metal for a moment and then subsided. He levitated over a chair, sat down next to the cauldron and pulled a small pair of silver and dragonbone spectacles out of his pocket. Once those were perched upon his nose he reached into the pocket on the other side of his jacket, took out a small notebook and undid the strap. Flipping through the pages he found the spot, read for a bit and then took a Muggle pen from his inside jacket pocket and wrote for a bit. Looking over to the cauldron he flicked his wand once again, this time for a bit longer, and almost the entire cauldron changed colour. It was to the point where if he'd kept it up much longer he knew the cauldron would melt, and that wouldn't do at all, so he waited until the colour was right at the lip of the cauldron and then stopped.

After a glance at his watch he knew he couldn't put it off any longer, it was going to happen, but at least he had an ace up his sleeve. Or, more honestly, a cauldron.

They were on time, of course. Thankfully he'd insisted that his sister and niece would accompany them, as Lily was the reason for the story. Still, his dad's comment played around in his head, publicity for the Reserve couldn't hurt. They'd arrived not too far off the property line, the Portkey office had actually got it right for a change, and with one eye on the colour of the cauldron Charlie watched them walk towards him.

Ginny was in her normal stuff but it looked a bit nicer, and Lily had on a new jumper. Her hair was done back in proper braids so it made Charlie feel a bit better, as he knew Lily wasn't fond of that. Served her right. But the witch next to Lily...she was definitely not dressed for the location, pale-green robe that swept the ground, high-heels to match not to mention some delicate hat thing. The other woman looked like any other Muggle he'd meet on the street; jeans, trainers, jumper and jacket, hair pulled back. As they got even closer he flicked the cauldron again one more time for good measure, and mostly for show, but he could see them more clearly. The posh woman looked even younger than Ginny but the one in Muggle clothes looked more his mum's age.

"Mr. Weasley! So good to meet you at last!" The posh woman strode forward as if she owned the place and began looking around. "Oh, this is perfect. Perfect! So much potential!" She stopped. "Mr. Weasley, I'm Ella Kitkby, editor of Witch's Advocate. The WA, in conjunction with the Hecate Society and other witches' magazines, would like to officially congratulate you as the winner of the Charming Change Contest. You have no idea how suprised we were that you were our winner."

"I think I've got a fair idea." Charlie snorted, then pointedly turned away and flicked the cauldron again.

"Whatever are you doing? That will ruin a potion." Ella shook her head.

Charlie glanced at his sister and then up to the editor. Hair that colour was probably not natural but all the rage in some fashion circle, he guessed, but she looked about as comfortable as a pixie in a punchbowl. He ignored the woman and went over to the small bucket next to his chair, picked it up and motioned for Lily to come over. When she arrived he looked down at her. "If I've got to do this stuff then you've got a job. That cauldron needs to stay hot, really hot. In here are..."

"Water balloons?" Lily looked up to him oddly. "But...oh, they're not filled with water, are they?"

"Smart. Hagrid's gonna like you when you get to Hogwarts in a couple a' years. Kinda like water balloons but they're filled with...something else. So when the cauldron gets to the halfway point, when it's not white hot, throw one of those in there. Best do it a few meters away, you don't want it to splash out. Trust me. Let's see if you inherited any of your Mum's chaser skills." He felt someone fairly close by so he turned to see the older woman not too far away, a camera in her hands.

"Hello, Mr. Weasley. Before we start I've got something for you to sign."

"Sign?"

"Standard form, but I've added a few things." She ignored the glare from Ella and continued on. "Since this whole thing is spinning out of control I've added some clauses that give you last right of approval."

He took the parchment she offered and read it over. "So, I can stop any photo being published? Really? No shit?"

The woman chuckled. "No shit. Sorry, Eddie Howell. I've been assigned to document everything. Before and after shots, all that."

Ella came forward, a supercilious smile on her face. "Edwina is one of our most celebrated photographers. I'm sure that you won't have a problem with any of her photos. Now that we've got that out of the way, how about a tour..."

"I'd be happy to help." Ginny came forward, took Ella by the arm and began to walk away, giving Charlie a wink on the way.

As Ella and Ginny got farther away and eventually went into the barn Charlie looked over to Eddie. "What did you mean, out of control? Lily, watch the cauldron."

As the sight of a small balloon filled with fluid vanished into the cauldron with a flash of fire Eddie turned back to the poor, poor man. He had no idea. As she started to say something she stopped, and then, reconsidering, shrugged and put the camera on her shoulder by it's strap. "You haven't read the gossip rags, then, I'm guessing. You won a contest that many witches would have given their left tit to win, as it's everything; clothes, hair, house, broom, garden...you name it. So there's that, but then you win it, not only a man but, sorry, a Weasley. Your family isn't really known for a low profile, despite your best attempts. Or worst, there's the joke shop. Anyway, on top of that it's come out that you're a dragon keeper, just moved to Wales, and you're single. Sorry, divorced. From Gwennog Jones, one of the most celebrated Quidditch players in the last fifty years, when that comes out...oh, and your brother-in-law is Harry Potter, your sister played for Harpies, not to mention your adorable niece is the one who entered you..." She saw his expression and put a hand on his shoulder. "I'm sorry, but I believe it's only going to get worse."

As he tried to imagine how it could get any worse he heard Lily calling his name and turned to her. The cauldron was fading quicker than he thought. "Try two this time. One, then the other." As Lily's throws put the balloons into the cauldron and it turned the appropriate shade he turned back to the photographer. "How's it going to get worse?"

Her attention was on the cauldron but turned back to him with a sympathetic smile. "Lad, they're going to be here doing all sorts of...and then there's the the Hecate Ball...I've known a dragon keeper or two in my time, and they all like their privacy. I'm guessing you're the same, and from here on out, well..."

"Fuck." Charlie took off his spectacles and stowed them in his jacket. "My mum will be thrilled. She's been wanting me to cut my hair and get rid of the beard for years. I'm going to be like one of those..."

"Hmmm, you might be surprised. I know who's in charge of hair, he's a good bloke." She turned to the cauldron for a moment. "Sorry, have to ask, what's in there? Eggs?"

"Yeah." Happy to finally be back on his speciality Charlie nodded towards the cauldron and they began walking. "Got these in from a friend who's a keeper in South Africa. Traded him a pair of breeding Welsh Greens. They don't usually live this far north, so it's a bit cold for them at this stage. Once they hatch, though, climate doesn't matter, but right now..." He stopped her once they were fairly close, and he could feel the heat coming off the cauldron. "They're pocket dragons. I'd appreciate it if you didn't say anything."

"Pocket dragons? I thought those were..."

"Almost extinct? Yeah, because they were so popular, and then because of bad breeders who wanted a profit, and the fact that they're occasionally poisonous..." He stopped. "Sorry, sore subject. One of the hopes for the Reserve here in Wales is that we can help bring their numbers up. Gotta keep them warm, and since there's not a mummy dragon we improvise."

"So what's in the balloons?"

He smiled broadly at Eddie and turned towards Lily. "Dragon piss."

"EWWWWW!" Lily let one drop from her hand; the moment it broke on the ground the grass around it began to catch fire for a moment and then went out, turning the area of impact into a smouldering circle that didn't smell very nice.

"It's just Welsh Green wee, Lily." He flicked his wand and made the small embers in the circle go out. "Just keeps 'em warm. And you don't wanna know exactly how we get the dragon piss. I can tell you, bringing that stuff back on a broom is not the easiest...wait a second." He turned to her, eyes a little wider. "Did you say something about a broom?"

"I did." Eddie nodded and fought back a smile. "Custom broom from Tighemore and Sons. I take it that interests you?" 

"Are you kidding?" Charlie shook his head. "A custom broom? Makes those high-end sticks the Quidditch teams fly look like old school brooms. Think, I could just have one broom instead of three that...dragon keepers need different things, well, they all need some speed of course, but..." He stopped. "I'm sorry. You've been out here for a few minutes and I've gone on about pocket dragons and brooms."

"Understandable." Eddie nodded. "You know, we could take a few shots now, for all the 'before' things. That'll get me out of your hair."

"What about her?" Charlie pointed off to the edge of his barn where Ginny was pointing something out to the overdressed editor.

"For now. You won't be shot of her until it's all over."

"Bloody hell. Fine." He stood up straighter, sucked in his gut a bit and ran a hand through his hair. "How's this?"

"Pitiful." Eddie shook her head and tapped him on the stomach, making him let out air. "You're fine, just...pretend I'm not here. I can disillusion myself if you prefer. Makes the photos a bit harder to process and I need a special lens, but I didn't bring that today so..."

"It's fine." He watched Lily trying to figure out a way to not touch the balloons and took out his wand. "Just don't say what's in this cauldron."

-ooo-

He knew he shouldn't be nervous, but he was. He hadn't seen her in person in...years. At least a decade, and that time was just a chance meeting at a pub in Australia. She looked good, as always, dark hair pulled back in an unfussed way, hardly any jewelry, still as fit as in her playing days.

After turning up the heat on the cooker to it's highest setting in the makeshift kitchen, Charlie took the singing kettle from the grid on the top of the cauldron. "It's not my fault, Gwen." He took a couple of steps over to the table and poured the water into the teapot. "I never said a word. It's because of this bloody grand prize."

She looked at him suspiciously, big dark eyes following his pour and said nothing until he sat down. "You're just bitching. And making tea, so that would make this a bitch's brew." After waiting a moment, and getting no response, she shook her head. "It's no wonder we didn't last, Chas."

"Hummmph." He sat down and smirked. "There's a lot of reasons we didn't last. Let's see..." He began tapping on the table. "Too young, work schedules, too immature..." he tapped his chest "...too focused on Quidditch..." he pointed at her and then continued tapping "...the bloody press, your dad, my mum..." He put on his glasses and poured the tea. "Have I mentioned we were too young?"

"Dunno, wasn't listening." She winked at him. "I just take it with honey these days."

"Guess things do change, then." He pushed the honey over towards her, turned back towards the cauldron, looked at his watch and then returned his focus to the table and his tea.

"And some things don't." Gwennog added a small bit of honey and then shook her head. "Right here's a perfect example. There's dragon eggs in that cauldron, right? You've been half-listening to what I said, right? Half your attention on the eggs or whatever's in there..."

"Yeah, it's dragon eggs."

"It's why you're a dragon keeper, Chas. You care about them."

"Someone has to." He sat up straighter in his chair and narrowed his eyes at her.

"Yep!" She clapped her hands. "Right there! Defensive about it, and I haven't said a word! Brilliant." With an easy laugh she reached across and put a hand on his arm. "I have always known how you feel about dragons, and if it wasn't for people like you they'd be gone. I get it now, how much attention they need and...I get it now, but when we were married? Christ, I was barely out of my teens and you still were a teenager, just moved to Romania. Back then I thought it meant you didn't care about me, but...oh for fuck's sake." She sat back in her chair and held her tea with both hands. "Charlie, why do you think I'm here today?"

"Because it's coming out in the press?"

"Well, partially." She gave him a small smile. "And because I need to warn you about...shit, I've heard a few of my players talk about you in the locker room. You're a hot property, ex-of-mine. And since the thing about our two-month marriage is coming out I thought I'd tell you how I'm handling it, and thought..."

"Sorry. Sorry, fuck, I'm...sorry, Gwen." Charlie sat back and crossed his legs. "Thanks for doing this, I mean, yeah, it was fun but..."

"We were young, we realised it wouldn't work and yes, it was fun. You were always fun, Chas." She raised an eyebrow. "If it makes you feel better I'll be at the Hecate Ball, so whatever lucky witch is your date..."

"Thanks." Charlie put his teacup on the table. "But as it stands right now I'm taking my niece. It's her bloody fault I'm in this, so..."

"Cute, but I'll bet you a dragon's egg you will have a date by then." She reached forward a hand and extended her little finger. "Bet me?"

"A dragon's egg?" Charlie's eyes went wide. "Are you mental? I can't..." His eyes flicked back to the cauldron and the pocket dragon eggs. "Ok. Fine." He extended his hand and locked little fingers with her. "You're on, but not for ownership. I'll name one after you, that's it."

"Like you'd ever bet an egg."

-ooo-

The workshop was coloured by the sun streaming in through windows on the far side of the room, windows that actually made up most of the wall. Natural light was best, it allowed one to see any imperfections in the wood and allow the grain to 'speak' as old man Tighmore taught her years ago. She was moving her hands along the wood, feeling the curve, and debating whether to take it down a bit and add the wind-resistant varnish when her boss knocked on the wall, pulling her out of her reverie.

"Bout done with that, yeah?"

She nodded. "Almost. Debating on the varnish."

He shrugged. "Let one of the juniors finish it up. Old man wants to see you. It's all right, don't worry. Don't thank me yet, though. Off you go."

Laying down her tools she pushed her blonde hair back, readjusted her glasses and set off through the shop, eventually coming to the office at the top of the stairs. Seeing the old man wasn't anything to make her nervous, she'd worked for him almost since she'd left Hogwarts. And 'old' was funny, since he was the youngest son left in the Tighmore and Son and he was at least a hundred but he called himself 'the baby.' He didn't mess around, was ruthlessly direct and a right bastard when any of the broom companies tried to copy his stuff. After a sniff and readjusting her jeans she knocked on the door, didn't wait for an answer and walked in.

Billy Tighmore looked up from his parchment, pulled his reading glasses off and let them hang around his neck on a leather thong. "Ah, Katie. Good, good, come in and take a seat." After waiting until she'd followed directions he leaned forward. "Got a special job for you. High profile."

"Crap." She grimaced and huffed slightly. "Send Gaspard. He likes that shit."

"I could but he's been a wanker lately." Billy shook his head. "Nope. You're the one. Think you might like this, though. Special broom for a contest winner...stop, nope, just wait." He wagged his finger at her as she was becoming more disgusted. "This isn't a show broom, it's a work broom. For a dragon keeper."

"What?" Katie started to say something else, opened her mouth, and then stopped. After a second she blinked a few times and shook her head. "So we're making a broom for a dragon keeper? They go through them like quills. Why bother when it's just going to be burnt up after a month? You're willing to let all this expense..."

"Your company, your rules. But this is my company, Katie, and you're my employee. You don't want your work to go to waste? Then make a broom to handle being owned by a dragon keeper. Go meet the man and let me know what you think. He's in a reserve out in Wales."

"Wales? When'd they start keeping dragons on a reserve in Wales?"

"I don't know, just go do your job." He winked at her. "And anything patentable you know the drill."

"Right." She sighed. "Half you, half me. Fine. So when do I go..."

"Oh, in fifteen minutes." He smiled. "Got a portkey here, you'll end up with a whole crew. Remember, it's for charity."

"Not publicity?" She smirked at him.

"Fuck no. Too many idiots just want a custom broom, never intend to ride it..." He paused. "Oh, good one, like you've never heard this shit before. Here." He threw her a large envelope with a bulky middle. "Just be ready."

"Fine." She took the envelope and left the office, looking down at her clothes. Sweatshirt, jeans, old trainers, everything covered with a combination of wood shavings and stained with too many things to count. "Brilliant. I suppose this can't get any worse."

Fifteen minutes later she inwardly began cursing herself because it had, in fact, got worse. Much, much worse. She stood on a hill in what she guessed was Wales, under a tree, with a bunch of other people, all dressed very posh and rediculously for a dragon reserve. And then, just when she'd resigned herself to just looking like she'd dressed incorrectly, she heard the voice.

"Katie? Katie Bell, is that you? OH MY MERLIN, it _is_ you!"

Katie closed her eyes because she knew that voice. Maybe if she just pretended she didn't know her it would stop. The hug dissuaded her of that thought very quickly.

"Katie, it has been ages, dearie! How are you..well."

"Hello, Lavender." Katie opened her eyes and took her in. Time had obviously been good to Lavender Brown, time and approximately a million Galleons or whatever. Her hair, once curly and unruly at times, hung lustrously around her head, makeup tastefully impeccable, jewelry flashing but not ostentatious...a nice package.

After a nervous glance Lavender leaned in. "Were you caught by the portkey? It's a dreadful look, love, what were you doing, cleaning out...never mind, never mind. I have a few things in my purse, we can at least do your eyes and lips..."

Katie sighed. Still Lavender, despite all the changes. "It's fine, Lav, back off, I'm fine." She looked over to all the people. "What are you doing here?"

"Oh dearie." Lavender took her arm. "We're the Squad, of course."

"What?" Katie laughed. "The Squad? You can't be serious?" After a second and a look at Lavender she tried to stop the laugh which ended up something like a snort. "You are serious, aren't you? The Squad?"

"Well." Lavender composed her face into a serious mask. "We needed something. Can't just keep saying 'representatives for all of the parts of the contest for the winner.' Completely awful. Miss Bellows, she's the writer for Witches' Advocate that's been assigned, she liked it. We're just waiting for her. Now we'll catch up later, I need to go fill in Winifred about some developments."

"Brilliant." Katie was about to take a step away when a flask appeared floating in front of her. Suspicious, she took a look around until she saw a very tall man with a beard, long dark hair and a series of necklaces visible from the open front of his shirt take his wand and twirl it a bit, making the flask dance. At this point, after being whisked away from her workbench, and being thrust back into dealing with Lavender, she thought 'fuck it', took the flask and tipped it back quickly. Whisky, good whisky, with just the right amount of peaty aftertaste.

"Looked like you needed that." The tall man came over and accepted the flask back from her. "How 'bout you, Lavender?" After Lavender had sneered at him and walked off to talk to someone else he shrugged, took a pull, screwed the cap back on and stuck it in his back pocket. "She drives me nuts."

"American?" Katie looked up at him.

"Sorta. Samoan. It's complicated. But the accent, yeah. American." He glanced over at Lavender, snickered, and leaned down to whisper in Katie's ear. "And her roots are showing."

"You do hair, then?"

"Yup. Should be an easy job, this one. Dragon Keepers, guessing it's not any crazy hair color or style or anything. Hell, might be a buzz cut."

A pop was heard and two people appeared next to the tree, a small woman with dark hair in, of all things, a very delicate pink dress, and surprisingly Hannah Abbott. The dark headed woman smiled, clapped her hands several times off to the side of her face and began speaking as if everyone was six years old.

"Attention, attention, all! Thank you so, so much for coming and donating your time and efforts. The Hecate Society, along with the Witches' Advocate, cannot express how much we appreciate your donations today and going forward. It will mean so much for the Muggleborn orphans and squibs, those poor little dears! Such a Squad, thank you, Ms. Brown, for that, very, very exciting! Today is our initial walkthrough of the project with the grand prize winner." She paused and tried to look embarrassed, but failed. "Oh, I do apologise, I didn't even introduce myself. Well, I'm sure most of you know who I am, but for those who don't keep up with such things my name is Bridget Bellows, and I'm the official writer for the contest. Please, I know you want to talk about some of my other works, but remember we need to focus on the job at hand. Ready? Great!" She clasped her hands and looked gleeful. "Let's begin, shall we?"

"Shit." Warren pulled out the flask from his pocket and handed it to Katie. "I think I need more whisky."

"I think you'll need a bigger flask." Katie took the flask and had a slightly longer drink this time.

"Is it usual for you to drink during the day?" Warren raised an eyebrow.

"No, but I think I'll make a Lavender-exception. Hello, Hannah."

"Was that Lavender? Hi Katie." Hannah stood there with a hand on her hip, shaking her head. "What did I get myself into this time?"

"I think we're about to find out." Katie motioned towards the group of people walking down the hill towards the small group of buildings. As she followed she partially listened to the people talking and felt her spirits sink. Dealing with the best and beautiful in her job was inevitable; the old man usually kept the collectors and status seekers away from the custom brooms but every now and then she had to deal with them. She never liked it, always thinking they were so much better than others, so what if they had Galleons?

Her thoughts were interrupted by an elbow in the side. "Ow, what the fuck?" She turned to Hannah, who was smiling at her. "What?"

Hannah pointed towards what looked like a barn. "Him, that's what."

"Oh. I did not expect him, that's for sure." Katie blinked, as there was the last person she'd expected to see in Wales. Eventually they all arrived in a small group around the barn door as Charlie Weasley stood next to the awfully cheerful Bridget. As the writer began to talk it dawned on Katie that Charlie was the dragon keeper, the contest winner, and that she would be making him a broom. She closed her eyes and it was just like it had happened yesterday.

 _It was her first year at Hogwarts, and first years never made the team, but she had to try. Fred and George said that he would be fair and would tell her if she was any good or if she should just give up, but then they told her that Charlie was so good he was going to go professional so it just made her even more nervous._

 _And then there was Charlie himself. He was Charlie Bloody Weasley, seventh year, prefect, Gryffindor Quidditch captain. And such a Seeker! She'd watched him on his broom before the tryouts started, just going down to the pitch with Fred and George for 'something to do.' He was so amazing on the broom, doing things she'd never imagined, and he was just so...cool. Handsome._

 _She stood there off the pitch, broom in hand, and watched as Fred and George tried out for Beaters. They did well, but the seventh years ahead of them weren't going to be kicked off the team for firsties, even if the captain was their brother. Her breath came quicker as she knew it was her turn to be up in the air soon, the Chasers would start the drills; she tied her hair back a bit tighter and wished she wasn't on a horrible old school broom. If she had a decent broom she might have a chance. What she wouldn't give for a good broom. No, a great broom.._

"Katie?"

Snapping out of it she blinked and looked up. "Hello, Charlie."

"I thought that was you." He smiled and waggled his eyebrows. "Bit mental, eh?" He motioned over to where all of the other people were standing next to the writer woman, getting parchment handed to them. "I tried to blame George but it isn't his fault."

"This would have been more a Fred thing."

Charlie nodded. "Yeah. Miss that little shit. It was Ginny and Harry's girl, she put me in for the thing and, well, you're here now. So...not that I'm complaining, really, but, um, why are you here, Katie?"

"Oh. Custom broom. I make them."

"No kidding? Merlin's balls, that's amazing!" He almost bounced in place. "I've always wanted one but they're so expensive and..." He saw that her focus had moved off of him. "Is it Bridget?"

"I think that's her name." Katie smirked at him. "The writer?"

"Crap." He sighed heavily. "This is going to drive me to drink."

"Hit up Warren." Katie motioned towards the group of people. "The big bloke. He's got a flask."

 _ **A/N: I had planned on doing this as one, big giant oneshot like Back to the World but wanted to get this out as a start. This is part of the Loungewide Fluff Project over at the Teachers' Lounge, and we all could use a bit of fluff. I'm not going to hide where this one is going, because, well, Fluff, and I'm pretty sure you can guess. Besides the fact it's pretty much a flashing neon light that it's Charlie/Katie, Bad Mum asked for it, so I'm glad to oblige.**_

 _ **As always, thanks for reading and review if you wish.**_


	2. A Long Day

**A Long Day**

Lily Potter was having a very nice dream, thank you very much. She was very tall, taller than Albus and much taller than James. As she sat in a big, squashy chair with blue and pink flowered fabric Kreacher brought her a big bowl of ice cream. Then her dad was making James leave to go clean something nasty the Muggle way when she felt herself being shaken. Moving between dreaming and wakefulness she shut her eyes tight, hoping that James would leave her alone and she could get back to her dream, but another shake on her shoulder made her wake up all the way.

"James, stop!"

"Not James, pixie."

Lily stretched and looked up to see her Uncle Charlie at her bedside. "Huh?"

Charlie laughed. "Come on, Lils. You're helping me today. Put on some old clothes. I'll be in the kitchen."

After closing the door to her bedroom Charlie snickered. Ginny had agreed, and if the two of them had learned anything from their father, it was how to make a point. Making his way downstairs he glanced at all the photos his sister had arranged on the staircase wall, photos of the family at different occasions; weddings, parties, birthdays, Christmases, and for some reason he'd stopped at one of the last Christmas photos from the Burrow, one he hadn't seen yet. There, all arranged by the tree, were the Weasleys. And Potters, he corrected himself. But there they were, with their families, George and Angelina, Ron and Hermione, Percy and Audrey, Bill and Fleur, Ginny and Harry...and then him standing next to his parents.

With a shrug he continued downstairs, the light of the kitchen brighter as he came closer. It was quiet, except for the sound of a rustling paper, and he nodded as Harry motioned towards the coffee pot. After opening a cabinet he took out a coffee mug, poured about a half cup, and sat down.

He knew that look on Harry's face, his body language, as he'd seen it many times before on the reserve; the look of a person who had been up all night for several days consecutively. Even though you could sleep during the day with the help of some potions it took ages to get acclimatized, and then just when the internal clock had aligned the shift changed.

"She's not a morning person."

Charlie took a sip of coffee and sat the mug down. "Don't know too many who are, honestly. So if I tried this with Al or James..."

"Never work. They might get out of bed at ten or so."

"Summers." Charlie nodded. "Oh, to be a kid again." He paused, and thankfully Harry didn't say anything. Sometimes he forgot about Harry's childhood, to be honest. It didn't hurt that Harry looked exhausted. "How's the night shift?"

Taking off his glasses Harry leaned back in the chair. "Boring, honestly. Just a couple of minor things and paperwork." Glancing at the kitchen clock he sighed. "Figures that you and Ginny cooked this up and then she'd stay in bed. Planned this for when I'd still be up. So why exactly are you here in my kitchen at half five?"

"Punishment, actually."

"For you or me?"

"Your daughter." Charlie reached into his back pocket and pulled out the little notebook, then put on his spectacles. Flipping through the notebook he came to the spot he was looking for and tapped it with his finger. "I've got some things to do on the reserve, nothing dangerous, mind, and Ginny's using Dad's tricks." He saw Harry's confused expression and continued. "When you'd mess up at home, for something fairly big, Mum would yell. You know Mum, sent to your room, cleaning by hand, etc. And when that was done you'd think it was over, wasn't too bad, no big deal. But the next morning at the crack of dawn there was Dad, waking you up, and he'd make you do chores. Nothing bad, but it was so bloody early, and it was just torture. I had to help sort the shed one time. He'd just make sure you were doing stuff and then after that he'd take you for breakfast, just the two of you. The whole time you'd be eating you'd be dreading the lecture. Sometimes you'd actually get a lecture, but, a Dad lecture. And it felt horrible, disappointing him, and then sometimes you'd have breakfast and get all the way through it and when it was over he'd just put his hand on your shoulder and say 'well, I think you'll do better next time, eh?' and that'd be that."

"That's Arthur." Harry paused, as the sounds from above the kitchen indicated that, shockingly, Lily was up and moving. "But Ginny's never said anything about punishment breakfasts."

"Pffft." Charlie laughed. "Yeah. Right. When she wakes up ask her about the time she secretly put Floo powder in the twins' jackets and told them to go jump in the fireplace."

"No."

"Oh yeah. They did something to one of her dolls, don't remember exactly, but she dared them to jump in the fireplace. They ended up at Muriel's."

Harry's laugh was cut short as his grumpy daughter walked in, wearing a pair of jeans that had a hole in one knee, untied trainers and one of Albus' old t-shirts, hair pulled into a very untidy ponytail. She sat at the table for a moment and then sighed deeply.

"Is this because I entered Uncle Charlie in the contest?"

"I don't think so." Harry's tone was matter-of-fact. "I'll talk to your mum later, but I'm guessing this is because you sold my signature. More importantly, not only did you sell my signature but you lied to me about that signature. Today you're going with Charlie and you'll do whatever he says. Lily." His tone was much sharper. "Do you understand?"

"Yes, Dad." She sighed. "I'm sorry."

"Mmm-hmm. Right, then. I'm off to bed." Harry stood up, looked at Charlie and winked. "Try to return her with all her limbs."

As Lily looked up somewhat worriedly Charlie nodded, stroking his beard. "Not a problem. St. Mungo's can regrow fingers. It'll be fine."

-ooo-

The morning sun was now bright in the Welsh hills as Charlie sat at his desk in the barn. He was on his second pot of coffee, making his way through the damnable contest folders, when he realised that there was no noise coming from the far end of the barn. The end where Lily was working.

Taking off his spectacles he sat them down on the desk and stood up, imagining that Lily was off taking a nap. She'd been a good but reluctant worker, sorting the small dragon scales into the cauldrons. Dragons shed scales constantly; one of the ways that various reserves across the world helped defray expenses was the sale of the smaller scales to potion shops. Unfortunately, there was no way magic was useful for this task, as the properties of the scales were affected by magic. For potions the scales needed to be separated by colour, then size; it was one of the tasks that keepers disliked, as it was busywork, but it was a necessary evil. Charlie had figured that it would be a good Arthur-like task for Lily with the added bonus of rewarding his keepers with one less job for the week. As he walked into the end of the barn with the cauldrons he noted that the pile of scales was gone, all of the cauldrons were appropriately full and his niece was nowhere to be found. Brilliant. At least they were at his place and not the reserve. No dragons about...

He stopped and sighed. Putting away his spectacles he went to the back door and opened it, expecting to warn her away from the self-heating cauldron he'd just purchased for the pocket dragons, but instead stopped short, his warning caught in his throat.

"One hatched!" Lily held up her hands, a tiny blue dragon cupped inside. "It likes me!"

"Fuck." He muttered it quickly and then went over to her, kneeling down to inspect the hatchling. After a moment he hurriedly put on his spectacles and ran a hand over his beard. From what he'd read in parchment from the keeper he'd received the eggs, a clutch hatched all at once. More importantly, he remembered one of the important points of the report, and one of the reasons he had kept the eggs so close. "How'd you get it out of the cauldron?"

"The big gloves from the barn. I came out to take a break because I never thought dragon scales could be so boring. I wanted to see how they were doing, and then one started moving and then it cracked and I saw a foot."

"Hmmhmm. So you just decided to go back into the barn, get the gloves and pick up the egg without telling me." He watched her face fall and a worried expression crept over her face. "But you got excited, didn't you?"

"Yeah!" Her eyes went bright as she moved the dragon into one hand and put out a finger, which the tiny dragon crawled upon. "It's so cute! Oh." Her brows knitted. "Is it a boy or girl? I don't know how to tell."

"Tell you what, pixie." He stood up. "Let me check the other eggs, get another cup of coffee and we'll find out. Just stay here, ok?" After taking a look at the remaining eggs and not detecting even an iota of movement he went back into the barn, mentally cursing the entire time. Once he'd poured the last of the pot into his cup he looked up at the clock. The new pocket dragon was going to mess up the schedule. It was going to be a long day.

-ooo-

The conference room at the hotel was filling up slowly, much too slowly. As Katie flipped open her notebook and began thumbing through the pages she was hoping that her body language was saying 'sit somewhere else.' The tables in the conference room were arranged in a U-shape, with an easel set up in the center, so she sat on the end of the table, with only one seat next to her. Concentrating on her ideas of how to mix specific broom enchantments the sound of the chair moving beside her caused a glance up with hope, and then relief.

"Couldn't just do this with an owl, had to make a production. Typical. Don't know why I'm even here." Warren sat down next to her, his long hair pulled up into a ponytail. "How's it going?"

"Alright. You?"

"Bit tired. Thing in Norway last night. At least the food was good." He smirked and then elbowed her. "Here comes your bestie."

In horror Katie looked up and saw Lavender. Lavender dressed in _lavender_ robes. Lavender who was waving at her. Lavender who walked across the room, conjured a chair on the end of the table and sat down next to her.

"Oh hello again, Katie! Warren. Isn't this so exciting! Progress reports on everything and then we start Phase One today. I do hope that..." she paused and then looked at Warren. "What is it?"

"Split ends, if you're lucky."

As Lavender worriedly discussed her hair with Warren, Katie could feel him slightly kick her under the table.

And then it got worse.

The meeting lasted for over two hours, two hours full of the most twittering inanity that Katie fantasised about all of the different hexes she would use on the assembled lot. The Squad. Once the meeting ended they would all portkey to Wales and then all of the plans would be set in motion, the changes to the house, the garden, the first official photo shoot; everything would begin. Lavender had been utterly annoying as she gave her presentation on the interior design, causing Warren to kick her again as the display showed an utterly incompatible plan for an all-white, modern interior. Katie couldn't imagine anyone actually living in a place like that, let alone a dragon keeper. She thought of Charlie walking around in a place like that and had to stifle a laugh.

But then Warren kicked her again, but hard. She looked over to him and realised that everyone was quiet and, most importantly, looking at her. She sighed, got to her feet, and went to the easel, tapping the wide canvas with her wand. At this point giving a presentation on a broom design was second nature, she could do it in her sleep. About ten minutes in, when she was on the details, she glanced at Warren smirking at her and then saw Hannah Abbot nod towards the others and saw that all of the others had a glazed-over expression. Giving it up as a hopeless case she summarised what would be a further ten minute discussion by saying 'and then the charms are combined and the broom is finished.' Tapping her wand against the canvas all of the broom illustrations ceased. Half-hearted applause was heard so she sat back down.

The last presentation was the writer witch who was happy to bring out all of the recent press clippings, the headlines and photos that had been very popular with the wizarding populace. As she was trying to figure out an excuse to get out of the day it was obvious that they were too late, as a length of rope was passed around the table.

"You wouldn't happen to have that flask, would you?" Katie gave Warren a pleading look.

"Bit early for that." Warren shook his head. "Don't worry, the renovation wizards will have a tea trolley set up on site. Or, knowing the fashion bunch, there will be some guy in expensive clothes with a snotty attitude making tiny coffees. Have to keep the Squad caffeinated."

"Brilliant. It's gonna be a long day."

-ooo-

Lunch had been crap, no two ways about it. A bunch of 'healthy' things that wouldn't satisfy a crup puppy, and those things ate just about anything. Charlie sat out in a tent, in a barber's chair, as the big bloke ran his hands through his recently washed hair, still hungry.

"Good news is I doubt you'll ever go bald, so don't have to worry about that."

Charlie nodded. "Good, Dad's pretty much bald except for the fringe around the side and back. Older brother's looking a little thin these days, though."

"You're fine." Warren looked at Charlie in the mirror. "So what do ya want?"

"Aren't you supposed to tell me that?"

After shrugging Warren ran his hands through Charlie's hair again. "Most of the time, yeah. But you aren't my typical client. I mean, you'll look good, that's guaranteed, but I'm not gonna make you look stupid. You're a dragon keeper, man. That's badass. Besides, how much time do you really spend on your hair? Don't bother, I know." He paused. "Tell you what I'm thinking. You want something easy, something you don't have to maintain, and if you have to put on the dog and pony for investors or whatever will clean up quick. Right?"

"Merlin, yeah."

After thinking for a moment Warren stepped away from the chair, returning eventually with a small tub in one hand and a brush in the other. "So here's what I'm thinking. Your hair's decent length now, why not grow it out? I'll cut it so that it'll grow in a way that'll make it healthy and won't need much fuss. You can pull it back for quick everyday work, then when you have to get money from the old school witches and wizards you can do the bow in the back thing. Revolutionary...sorry, don't know if it is still a sore subject in Britain, but think old school. Lot of ways to do it. But this..." he held up the tub "...will help. Strengthener and a protectant all in one. Quidditch players like it, for you the plus is that it's heat-resistant..."

 **"CHARLES WEASLEY!"**

Warren stopped mid-sentence and looked in the mirror at Charlie, who had closed his eyes and sighed. The tent flap flew open, followed shortly by Ginny and Lily in the lead, James and Albus close behind followed by what seemed like every other person on his property. Ginny had Lily by the arm, pulling her along as Lily cradled her other arm close to her chest.

 **"CHARLES OSBERT WEASLEY WHAT IN THE WORLD IS WRONG WITH YOU, GIVING MY EIGHT YEAR OLD DAUGHTER A BLOODY DRAGON?!"**

Charlie turned the barber's chair around, facing his sister,. and held up his hands. "I didn't _give_ her a dragon..."

"Then **WHAT** do you call **THAT? A PIXIE?** I don't **THINK** so." Ginny shook her finger at him, jabbing it for emphasis. "She was _supposed_ to have a punishment, not go to the pet shop. What in Merlin's name am I going to do with a damned dragon? Is this even **LEGAL**?"

The crowd began to edge in closer, looking between Lily and then back to the sparring siblings. Katie, who had been arguing with the man running the coffee cart that she wanted a big coffee not a complicated tiny coffee, had made her way into the tent and maneuvered her way next to her former Gryffindor classmate.

"Hi Ginny. Bad day?"

Ginny seemed to stop for a moment, deflating slightly. In contrast to before her tone was friendly, as if she had just run into her in Diagon Alley. "Oh, hello, Katie. Yes, it's been rather trying. Sorry, kind of busy at the moment."

"Mummy?" Lily looked up to her mother. "Am I in trouble?"

"No dear, it's not your fault." Ginny then turned to Charlie. "It's **YOUR** fault for giving my daughter a dragon!"

Charlie stood up, still wearing the barber's cloth. "If you'll pipe down for a second and listen I'll explain. Did you even read the note I sent with Lily? Did you?"

"Oh. Right." Ginny put her hand on her hip. "Like everyone's first reaction when seeing their daughter with an impossibly tiny dragon is _'I wonder if there's a note.'_ No, I didn't read the note."

"Fine." Charlie pulled the apron off and tossed it on the floor of the tent. "Dragon lesson. It's a pocket dragon, really rare, and when they hatch they imprint. Like ducklings. For about six weeks minimum, maybe longer. It's why I was keeping them close to the house, so when they hatched I'd be the one they imprinted on." He pointed to the little dragon in Lily's hand. "This one hatched before the others, which isn't supposed to happen. Lily was there and that's that. So now the dragon..."

"Bitsy." Lily stepped between her mum and her uncle. "His name is Bitsy because he's so tiny."

As laughter came from different parts of the tent Charlie decided the best way forward was to press on. "Right, so Bitsy, whether you like it or not, sis, Bitsy is now Lily's. For now, maybe longer, it depends. Yes, it _is_ legal to own a pocket dragon if the proper forms are followed and right after I brought Lily home I did that. _And_ if you would have read the note I gave you the name of one of the junior keepers to owl and come round to help out."

With no real idea how to respond Ginny huffed. "Fine. If you think we're done with this, just wait. I'm sure Mum will have some thoughts. Come on, kids."

As Ginny turned the crowd parted, a path opened for the Potters to leave. Everyone was quiet which meant that everyone heard Albus' grumbling to James that it wasn't fair that Lily got punished and got a dragon. A few people saw Lily stick her tongue out at her brothers and, unsurprisingly, a few photos were taken before Ginny glared emphatically enough that they were left alone.

For a moment back in the tent everything was still, people were still processing what had happened, but then almost as if on cue everyone started talking at once. Unfortunately for Charlie they all seemed to be talking to him. There was a plan to review for the garden, the builders needed his input on where he wanted the kitchen as Hannah's plan disagreed with Lavender's design, the fashion witch wanted him for measurements and the writer was asking a million questions about pocket dragons.

"Fancy a broom ride?"

Charlie glanced over his shoulder and saw Katie standing there, adjusting her glasses. Her hair was down, coming over her shoulders, and she was giving him a smirk. "Merlin, yes."

Ignoring all the requests the two of them left the tent and went over to a large wooden crate lying on the ground. Katie took out her wand, tapped the crate in several spots, and then pulled the lid off. "It's not your broom, just a test model."

Looking down he saw broom lying in straw, handle gleaming, twigs in an unusual formation. Instead of expanding and then tapering like racing or Quidditch brooms, the twigs were offset at different intervals. "Never seen anything like that before."

"I hope not, or I owe someone royalties." Katie picked it up. "Here. Hold on a moment and I'll be ready." She reached into her small satchel and pulled out a scuffed and weather-beaten motorcycle jacket. Once she'd slipped it on she tapped her wand once more on the crate, making a separate compartment slide out from the bottom, revealing a normal-looking broom. "Can't expect me to check your broom from the ground, can you?"

"No, not at all." Charlie held the odd broom in his hands as she mounted hers. "So how exactly do we test this? Besides flying?"

"Reserve is close, right? Need to see how you'd actually use it."

"Works for me." Charlie mounted the broom and smiled at her. "Let's go."

-ooo-

It was three hours later when they landed back at Charlie's property. Luckily most of the assembled workers were gone, but it was obvious that they had been busy. Where before there had been overgrown and unplanned greenery there was now a proper garden, complete with rosebushes, pathways and slender trees. One of the tents was gone, along with the coffee cart, but unfortunately there was something set up next to the barn that looked like a stage.

Charlie motioned for Katie to follow and then went over the property and landed a little ways away, near the small stream. Most importantly, he'd chosen a spot that was hidden from the house by a copse of trees. He dismounted and looked at the broom appreciatively. "I can't imagine how you'll improve it, honestly."

"You'd be surprised. Actually, you will be." Katie smiled and pulled off her jacket, stowing it impossibly in the smaller satchel. "Can't believe what you keepers do, no wonder you don't have just one broom. You need speed, maneuverability, the ability to carry large amounts of weight, flame resistance, durability..."

"A lot of the budget goes to brooms." He shrugged and shivered slightly. "Jacket makes sense now."

"Like you've never been on a broom before."

"I just wanted out of there. Plus I was hungry."

Katie put her broom next to a tree and sat down. "I've seen Weasleys eat before, no surprise. Also no surprise you wanted out of here, with your sister like that." She shook her head. "In-person Howler and then says 'hello' to me like nothing, then back at you in full force."

"That's Mum. Apple didn't fall far from the tree."

Pulling her hair back and refastening her ponytail Katie rolled her eyes. "And it's no wonder you're related to the twins. Sending Lily home with a dragon and a note. What were you expecting?"

"Pretty much what happened, just trying to delay it."

"Coward."

"Point."

They sat there silently for a while and then she couldn't help it. "So, Gwennog Jones?"

"Dammit." He gave a long sigh. "It was a long time ago."

She laughed. "Right, yeah, but that's not what I'm interested in...how in Godric's name did you keep that quiet? I mean, the press follows Quidditch players relentlessly. I've made a few brooms for them before and it's mental. One client had me take Polyjuice to come to his place so there wouldn't be rumours. Had a bit of a problem in the past, stepped out on his wife few years before that, and if the press would have seen me go to his place...well, you know what would have happened."

"Yeah, who knew someone like you makes brooms? Who'd you have to be, his mum?" When he didn't get a response he looked over to her. "What?"

She had narrowed her eyes and was tapping on her thigh with her fingers. "What did you mean, 'someone like me' makes brooms? Don't you think women can make brooms?"

"What? No, shit, no. Women can do whatever they bloody well want, I work with women keepers all the time. I meant..." He paused. "Fuck."

"Well? I'm waiting?"

Looking back there are moments when couples can say 'it was then' when determining when they became a couple. For some it was a date to a dance, being asked out at Hogsmeade, even a morning after. But years later, when asked, both Katie and Charlie would respond with the exact same anecdote, even when asked separately. For them, it would be that moment, hiding from everyone involved with the Grand Prize, behind their house.

"I meant someone as attractive as you. That people don't expect someone that pretty to be smart and creative and...shit. Shit, shit, shit." He stood up suddenly. "Thank you for the broom ride. I'm sure the final one will be brilliant. I should go see what that stage thing is and see what stupid thing I have to do now." As he took two steps he heard her laugh behind him and knew that he'd bollocksed it up again. This was why he was single.

"Stop." She walked towards him, and with his back still turned to her she gently pulled him to face her. "So...you think I'm pretty? I sure don't look like Lavender, all those posh..."

"Bloody hell, no. Thank Merlin." And then, from somewhere, he remembered his bet with Gwennog, that he'd have a date to the Hecate Ball. "I'm gonna have to name one of the pocket dragon eggs after her."

"Huh?" Katie looked at him very oddly. "What are you on about?"

"It's not Hogsmeade, but...will you go to the Hecate Ball?"

"I'll be there for work." She almost had to chew the inside of her mouth to keep from smiling, as it was so enjoyable watching him fumble.

"No, I mean, with me. Will you go with me? It'd mean you'd be in all the press..."

"I will. But we'd better get back to whatever's going on over there." She waved towards the house. "But we'd better have a few practice dates first."

"Right." He sucked in his cheeks and eyed her with slight grin. "I get it now, craftsman. Need to try things out first. Right. Good. Glad that's sorted."

 _ **A/N: This has been floating around for a bit, I'd thought about adding more but re-reading it this seems to be a good spot to end this chapter. Not sure how many left on this one, maybe one or two. No promises, but I'm sure it won't be an epic saga going on over 50 chapters.**_


	3. New Habits

**Chapter 3: New Habits**

It had been an exhausting day, to say the least. Not in the usual manner, that was something Charlie was quite used to as he was a dragon keeper; this was something altogether different. The constant, seemingly inane questions and demented twittering of all the contest people had battered what was left of his patience. It was all he could do to answer everything, approve this or that, request other things and at the end of the day he was just about ready to start hexing them to get them out of his house. The night was beginning to fall around his place, something that he was glad for, even if the light seemed to be increasing in his house because of the reflective capabilities due to the fact that almost every single item in his newly decorated house was white.

He was contemplating getting up from the chair and owling one of his keepers to stop by for a visit, with the ulterior motive of bumming a cigarette off the man. He'd stopped that habit years ago, but with everything that had happened that day…

The floo roared into life, depositing probably one of the last people he wanted to speak to at that moment into his house.

"Well. This is rather unexpected."

"Hello to you too, George." Charlie watched as his brother glanced around the house, taking everything in, before plopping himself into one of the overstuffed white leather chairs with spindly legs. "So what's going on?"

"Oh, you know." George sat back and crossed his legs and leaned into the back of the chair, almost immediately regretting it as he almost lost his balance. "For fuck's sake, this chair is awful." He struggled to get back into a semblance of a normal seating position and shook his head. "This is better than anything I could have come up with, you in a place like this."

"Tell me about it." Charlie sighed, took off his spectacles and sat them on the sofa next to the book he'd been reading previously. "It's..."

"Horrible? Completely and utterly impractical for a bloke like you? Very artsy, though. Utterly posh. Brilliant."

"Exactly." After a sigh he looked over at his brother. "So here to take the mickey, then?"

"Partially. That was the main thing, really, but thought I'd bring this over." George pulled out a magazine from his back pocket and unfolded it. "Have contacts in the press, you know, advertising for the shops and all that. You might want to see this so you'll be prepared in the morning. I thought I'd just let you have the fun of waking up with this in your morning owl post but Ang wouldn't let me. Said that you should know and since I had previous knowledge you'd brain me afterwards, blah blah blah. So here."

Charlie took the proffered magazine from his brother, turned it over and let out a disgusted noise. There, on the cover of Witch's Advocate was a picture of him standing next to Lily as she cradled her little pocket dragon. That was the small picture, but the main picture, under the magazine's title, that was a picture of him standing out by his newly installed garden. The picture wasn't too bad in and of itself, but the text at the bottom said 'Dragon Keeper Love Nest Grand Prize Update.' With a roll of his eyes Charlie began flipping through the initial adverts in the magazine until he got to the cover story. Him. There were about twelve or so pages of everything with pictures; the house (including the ludicrous all-white interior), sitting with Warren as he ran hands through his hair, being measured for clothes by the fashion witches...and then a small picture in a separate box of Gwennog with text that went on and on and on about their secret marriage and divorce. The last page was a photo of him in his wizarding dress robes from Ginny and Harry's wedding, standing next to Percy, both of them smoking a cigar. He hadn't seen that picture in ages, but it was the speculative text underneath that photo that made him wonder how fast that keeper could get there or if he should just pop over to the nearest Muggle village and buy a pack of smokes.

"So, not too bad, eh?" George made a motion to get out of the chair, struggled, and finally extricated himself by flailing about with his legs until he got enough leverage to push himself out. "That chair's a bloody menace. Useless." Without another word he walked into the large, open kitchen and began rooting around in the gleaming stainless steel fridge, returning with four beers. Handing two to Charlie he began to sit down again, reconsidered and sat on the nearby white leather sofa. After testing his seating he opened a beer. "Ang thought it wasn't too bad, but I really like that last part. Especially the one of you and Perce. Mum's gonna love that, you two with a cigar."

"Good. Perce deserves it." Charlie tossed the magazine on the floor and opened a beer, taking several swigs. Before he could say another word his watch began to buzz. "Sorry, be right back."

As he made his way out to the barn Charlie began silently cursing. Of course that last piece in the magazine had been speculating about who he was bringing to the Hecate Ball. That wasn't surprising, but when the magazine began wondering if the event would be the impetus for reigniting the romance between him and Gwennog or if several of the named wizarding celebrity witches would grace his arm...Merlin. Thankfully he put that out of his mind, as he had other, more pressing and important things to do at the moment. Reaching into the makeshift nest he reached down, listened to all the little squeaks, delighted at how the little pocket dragons all hopped towards him, crawling up his arm until finally he had all of them nestled along the arm he cradled towards his chest.

Grabbing the bottle and the dropper, along with the tiny bowl and bag next to the nest, he made his way into the house and sat down cross-legged on the floor across from George, back against the sofa. His brother was reading that awful magazine, and hearing him sit down George looked up, then down.

"How many of them are there?"

"Ten. I got a dozen eggs from the trade. Lily's got the one and unfortunately one of them didn't make it."

"Oh, sorry. That's awful." George sat the magazine on the sofa cushion and slid down next to him. "You know I've had people in the shop ask if I could talk to you about getting one. Apparently they're _the_ _thing_ right now. Montgomery Blish, you know him, the bloke that owns the Kestrels? Brought his son into the shop the other day and I'll be damned if the precious little tyke didn't throw an absolutely wonderful temper tantrum right there, demanding to have a pocket dragon. Don't know why they thought I'd have them in the shop. Probably make something explode. Besides the pet shop would have my hide if I'd done that. They're still miffed about the Pygmy Puffs."

"Shit." Charlie put the small bowl down in the area between his legs, dumped out the contents of the bag and then picked up the bottle and dropper. "That's one of the reasons they almost went extinct, you know. People like that." After dipping the dropper into the bottle he plucked up a little red dragon, put the end of the dropper near the snout and then began feeding the little dragon some of the contents. Looking up at his brother he answered what he knew was coming. "It's dragon blood mixed with some other stuff. You want to talk about something almost impossible to get, that's it. Thankfully Welsh Green blood's similar enough to theirs enough to work."

"Learn something new everyday." George reached out a hand and tried to get one of the little dragons to crawl on it, but instead they scurried back to the bowl or closer to Charlie. "And now I see why Lily's got one, they are like ducklings."

"Yeah." He finished the dropper with one dragon and picked up a small white one. Without looking at George he kept at the feeding. "So's Ginny still mad?

"Ehh, not really. The keeper you sent to help out is a massive hit with little Lily, though. I don't know who she's more in love with at the moment, her little dragon or that keeper." George sat back and watched the little dragons. "Albus and James are right put out, though. Put out." George's tone brightened. "That reminds me..."

Charlie glanced up. "George..."

"Hecate Ball. Dreadfully posh thing for the best and brightest, you'll be the main attraction, of course. I'll try to be off to the side, don't want to steal your thunder and all that, but are you going solo? Might not be a bad idea, you'll have your pick from the litter there, so to say. Sure there will be some society witches who would like a bit of rough an' tumble with a spiffed up dragon keeper..."

"George."

"...I did see that Mirabelle Coulthard was talking about the ball in one of Ang's magazines, she's widowed now, be a lovely..."

"She's older than Mum." Charlie looked over to see his beaming brother. "You're enjoying this, aren't you?"

"Like Christmas every day."

"Well, fuck off. I have a date."

"Really?" George leaned closer. "Oh, this should be good, won't say a thing. Worth the surprise. You know there's a family pool going on that." He waggled his eyebrows. "I tried to stop them, told them it would be in rather poor taste."

"You? Lecturing anyone on poor taste?" Charlie swapped out dragons, this time for a black one, and resumed the feeding. "If anyone has poor taste it's Angelina. How drunk was she when she agreed to marry you?"

"Slightly, but that's not the point. I still can't believe Hermione put down a Galleon on you and Gwennog. Obviously not happening. So, my celebrity brother, who _are_ you taking? Please tell me it's Lavender Brown, that would be hilarious, just for the look on Ron's face alone. But it's obvious you two are perfectly matched, I mean, look at this place." George stifled a laugh. "Right, so..."

"I'm not telling you, George."

After snapping his fingers and giving his brother the old finger wands George nodded. "Right, spoil the betting and all that. Bound to let is slip out. Good move. Help bring up the pot." He stood up, pocketed the unopened beer and smirked. "So you've got a date, then. I'll just idly wonder if you've got a date next time I see Fleur. She's the one that started the pool, you know, her an' Bill."

"I hate all of you."

"Awww, what's family for?" George didn't wait for a response and left via floo.

-ooo-

She tossed the tools on the workbench and sat back, stretching her aching shoulders. The broom was almost done, not much left except some of the more delicate finishing steps, but if anything she'd been making slower progress than anticipated. Oh, the design was good, that was for sure. The old man had stopped by yesterday and she'd walked him through it and, although he hadn't said much while she was going on about all the specifications and such, when she had finished he had a big smile on instead of the usual gruff expression. Told her that her line of dragon keeper brooms would bring in a good bit of gold, clapped her on the shoulder and then launched into her attendance at the Hecate Ball as the company's representative. She'd nodded along, giving him the impression that it wasn't a big deal, but after he'd left she'd simply sat there for a bit. It had taken her a while to get back into it, but now, since she was at a stopping point, everything else started coming back to her.

With a quick look at the clock she decided she was done for the day, even if it was only a bit after two. One of the perks of the profession. She stood up, cast the normal spells on her workbench to keep everything in place (and obscure the contents for anyone who happened to glance over, standard procedure) and pulled her leather jacket off the back of her chair. Halfway out of the shop she pulled her hair out of the ponytail, reset it and waved at the other broom-makers.

It wasn't a long walk to her destination, even though she could apparate there or could have taken the floo at the shop and been there much faster, after a couple of blocks she was happy she'd decided to walk. Gave her time to think of what she'd say. As she made her way through the streets she laughed softly, imagining what her first year self would think of her life now. Unfortunately that made her think back to that horrible moment at Hogsmeade, waking up at St. Mungo's...she shook her head. That was over. That was done. She was in London. She had a wonderful job that was challenging and she loved. She had a date tomorrow night with Charlie Weasley. Once again she laughed softly and quickened her pace.

The bell above the door rang somewhat softly as she entered, as always feeling as if she'd stepped into a greenhouse. A greenhouse that smelled like wonderfully fresh coffee. Making her way around a few of the tables she made her way to the counter, watched as Hannah Abbott plated a large pastry of some type, poured a very small cup of coffee and then levitated both over to one of the tables off in the corner. Katie slid onto one of the stools next to the counter and waited until Hannah glanced her way before waving at her.

Hannah bustled over quickly, a smile on her face while wiping her hands on her apron. "Katie, this is a nice surprise. Day off?"

"Nah, just done for the day."

After rolling her eyes Hannah leaned over the counter, propping her head with her hands. "Wish I could do that."

"Hey, you're the one who opened this place, it's your own fault."

"Too true. So, what can I get you? Coffee? Tea?"

"Just a regular coffee, black." Katie hesitated. "And maybe one of those massive cinnamon buns."

"Sure thing." With a few wand waves Hannah had everything sorted, pouring the coffee from the carafe by hand.

"Like the plants. Wonder where they came from?" Before Hannah could say anything Katie stuffed a big piece of the bun in her mouth to keep from smirking.

"Smart arse." Hannah huffed. "You know very well they come from Neville's greenhouse." Her eyes went slightly wide as she hurriedly added that they were from his personal greenhouse, not from Hogwarts.

"Like I'd care if they were." Katie took a sip of coffee. "And how is the Professor these days?"

Hannah's mirthful expression lessened. "Impossibly busy. We've had to reschedule two dates thanks to the stupid Board of Governors. I swear we could schedule something ten years from now and they'd have to meet for something dreadfully important."

Katie nodded impressively. "Ten years, huh?"

"Oh hush." After a moment she looked over to Katie somewhat oddly, as if she was doing arithmancy in her head. "You're going to the Ball, right?"

"C'mon, Hannah, of course. We're in the Squad. We have to be there. If I have to be there for the broom you have to be there for the kitchen thing." She shook her head incredulously. "You're going on about Neville being busy and you've got the Leakey Cauldron, this place and then the kitchen design thing on the side. Poor Neville, no wonder he's always in the greenhouses up at Hogwarts, has to do something while you're busy."

As someone entered the little cafe Hannah gave her a withering look. "Saved by the bell."

Stuffing a good third of the bun in her mouth Katie watched as Hannah waited on a couple of older witches, savouring the sweetness. She'd drained a good part of the coffee when Hannah returned.

"I swear if we ever become like those old witches I want someone to take me out back and end it. Horrible, fussy things who never give a thought to what comes out of their mouths. Asking me when Nev and I were getting married. I swear they must know his gran, sounds just like her."

"So when _are_ you and Neville getting married?"

"Merlin's pants, not you too?" Hannah picked up a rag, wiped a non-existent crumb off the counter and then tossed the rag down with a glare. "I don't know. We've talked about it, obviously." With a gleam that suddenly appeared in her eye Hannah cocked her head towards Katie. "And what about you? You were saying something about the Hecate Ball, weren't you?"

"Uh, yeah." That threw Katie off a bit. "Um, so what are you going to wear?"

"And now this? I swear it's like I have the same conversations over and over." Hannah paused. "Sorry, Lavender stopped in the other day and was...she was full blast Lavender. To answer your question I'm not sure. Why? Don't you have to wear your official Tighemore robe or something?"

"Guess I could, but...I have a date. Want to look nice."

"Oh-ho!" Hannah gave her a wide smile and wiggled her shoulders a bit. "And now we come to the real reason you're here today. So what's his name? Hogwarts or from somewhere else? Oh my God, is it Warren, the hair bloke? I've seen you two..."

"No, it's not Warren. And yes, he went to Hogwarts." She leaned forward, causing Hannah to replicate the motion. With a much quieter voice, but shot through with a pleading tone, she continued. "And for all the gold in Gringotts please don't say anything. I'm going with Charlie." After a moment she continued. "Weasley."

"No! _Really_? Oh..."

Katie put a hand over Hannah's mouth. "Not a word, right?" After a moment, and with a nod of approval, Katie removed her hand.

Instead of saying anything Hannah turned, went back into the kitchen area and came back a few moments later, her purse in the crook of her arm. "Deidre will manage, come on. We're going shopping and you're telling me _everything_."

-ooo-

At two in the afternoon Ginny was at her wit's end. The boys were being awful to each other, again, but more importantly they'd been at Lily since breakfast. Harry had helped, of course, but it had been a constant rumble all day. Just when she thought they'd finally settled down it would begin again and even threats of punishment until they left Hogwarts wasn't enough to stop them. _'It's not fair, Lily gets that dragon AND she gets to go to the party.'_ Merlin. The boys would be bored senseless ten minutes into the party but that wasn't the point, they couldn't go. She'd even resorted to dragging out some of her mum's favourite punishments, cleaning by hand, and sent them off to sort the garden shed. With any luck they'd find the sharp garden tools and off each other.

Thankfully, though, reinforcements had arrived in the form of Jack Stone, one of Harry's youngest Aurors. All of the usual babysitters were going to be attending the ball since Charlie was the main attraction and in frustration she'd mentioned it to Harry one morning after breakfast. Before lunch she'd received the owl that Jack had accepted Harry's request of babysitting the boys; apparently he had younger brothers and was well versed in keeping brothers from killing each other. That, and Harry had sweetened the deal by giving him an extra day off to see his girlfriend. The boys had met him before, at Harry's office, and thought he was _'the utter coolest.'_

With a thankful smile she opened the door, letting Jack in, apologising for the mess, but he waved her off. His arrival led to a thunderous noise as the boys hurtled down the stairs, peppering Jack with questions and invitations to play games. As James and Albus pulled Jack out into the back garden she took the opportunity to slide upstairs, stopping at the upstairs study to find Harry with his glasses off, feet up on the ottoman and snoring away.

"Harry. Harry!" She swatted at his feet.

"I'm up, I'm up." He reached over blindly for his glasses, found them, and once they were returned to their proper place he glanced up at his wife. "Which one this time?"

"Jack's here, they're fine. I need to take Lily with me over to Charlie's to get ready."

"What?" He looked at his watch. "Three hours early? Really?"

"You have no idea." She turned towards the door, called for Lily, and looked back at Harry intently. "Mum and Dad are taking her home after a bit and then we're dancing. You owe me. And for Merlin's sake please wear the new dress robe, you forgot last time and..."

"Alright, alright." He held his hands up in surrender. "I'll take care of it, don't worry. You getting dressed there?"

"Yes." There was no enthusiasm in her voice. "Apparently if Lily has to be dressed for this thing and the photos I do as well. Bloody lucky you are, being a man, just the dress robes...Helga knows what they'll put me in. Probably something horribly uncomfortable and..."

"Sexy?" Harry gave her a hopeful look. "Posh dress, dancing..."

"Three is plenty. None of that. One more and I swear..."

"Kidding, kidding! If that happened I'm pretty sure you'd kill me. You don't want to be a single mum, with..."

She flipped her hair over her shoulder and shook her head. "I'm just hoping this is a wonderfully boring night like most of these things are, like the bloody Quidditch banquets and Ministry things. After the day I've had I don't think I could take it."

Harry slid out of the chair, came up and put his arms around her waist, pulling her close. "I know, love. I know. Just remember however bad you've got it that tonight Charlie's got it much, much worse."

She leaned into him and sighed, a somewhat evil grin on her face. "Too true. At least I'll be there to witness it. He'll never live this down."

Not too much later Ginny and Lily stepped out of Charlie's Floo to a scene of witches and wizards talking rapidly, things being levitated all over the place and some sort of awful music thumping loudly in the background. As Lily increased the grip on her hand Ginny looked around, hoping for a familiar face and then sighed. Taking Lily through the tumult she caught the attention of her target and braced herself.

"Ginny! So good to see you, dear!" Lavender kissed both her cheeks and looked down. "And good gracious, Lily aren't you excited! You're so lucky, I would have absolutely died if I would have had this chance when I was your age. I can't wait to see you in the dress they picked out for you. Simply precious!" She turned back to Ginny. "I'm absolutely certain Warren can do something with your hair. It'll look so much better."

Chewing the inside of her mouth Ginny simply nodded instead of saying what came to her mind. "I'm sure. So where are we supposed to..."

A thin young witch wearing all black rushed up to them, flipped over a page on her clipboard and tapped her finger on the parchment. "Perfect, right on time. Let's get you both into hair and makeup."

As they followed the witch Lily looked up to her mum. "Is this Charlie's house? Why is everything white? That's dumb."

"It is, and please don't say that. The witch that picked everything out is here and it would hurt her feelings." After a few steps she bent down and whispered "You're right, it is really dumb."

The witch with the clipboard led them through the house to a small tent pitched off to the side of the house, opened the flap and then left them standing there, walking away as she returned her attention back to the clipboard. With a sigh of resignation Ginny stepped through the tent opening, expecting a similar scene to the house. It was anything but. Instead of the arty-whiteness of the house the interior of the tent looked like, well, a pub. There was a bar, a wooden floor, and a painting over the bar of a rather fit and very naked woman. Thankfully the woman saw them and disappeared from the frame, leaving Ginny to focus on the only living occupants: Warren, the big bloke who did hair, sat in a chair next to Charlie, the two of them drinking beer and playing cards.

"Uncle Charlie!" Lily excitedly ran over to her uncle, causing the two men to turn. She reached into the little purse she carried and gently pulled out her dragon. "Look at Bitsy! I think he's grown since you've seen him. Mike said that I've been doing really well taking care of Bitsy. I can even do the dropper." She turned to Warren, who was paying close attention. "Mike's one of the keepers here. His name's Mike Nakamura an' his family's Japanese even if he did grow up in America. He's..."

"A very patient, kind person." Ginny smoothed her daughter's hair for a moment. "Thanks, Charlie."

He narrowed his eyes at her. "So you're not still mad at me?"

"Irritated, yes, but not mad. Mike explained things." She paused. "Plus I'm not Mum. You didn't get a howler, did you?"

"Thought I might. You're not like Mum, she never let me keep anything good. Not like Bitsy, there." He reached down to touch the dragon but it scurried up Lily's arm and sat on her shoulder, hissing slightly at him. "Definitely her dragon."

Lily nodded rapidly. "Mum said I have to be careful with him tonight because people will want to touch him and, and, well...Mike said he could be poisonous. If he gets really scared."

Charlie glanced up at Ginny, relieved to see her shake her head. Turning his attention back to Lily he nodded. "That's right, but Mike told you he'd have to be a bit older for that to happen, right?"

"Oh."

"Don't get me wrong, pixie, he could still make someone rather ill. But yeah, we'll keep a close eye on them." He sat up a bit straighter and opened the front of his unbuttoned flannel shirt. There, nestled close to his chest, was a sling the same colour as his t-shirt. "Mine are here, too. We'll keep a good eye on 'em. Mike'll be here later tonight to do the feedings, so..."

"Mike's coming!" Lily turned to her mum. "I'm going to dance with him."

"We'll see." Ginny turned to Warren. "Apparently we're on the clipboard for hair."

"Right." As he stood up Lily took him in, long dark hair, tattoos. He didn't look like any wizards she knew. He gave the little girl a wink. "Ok, you two..." Warren began moving to the barber's chair, airing out one of the barber's capes. "So something elegant, not fussy...up or down? Lily, you first."

After getting up into the chair Lily put a hand to her mouth. "Oh no." Her shoulders sagged. "I'm supposed to be your date, Charlie. It's ok if I dance with Mike, right?"

Charlie couldn't look at Warren as the big man laughed. "It's fine, pixie. But you're not my only date."

"Really?" Ginny plopped herself down in the Warren's vacated chair. "Do tell. Lavender?"

"Merlin's balls, why does everyone..." Charlie ran a hand over his beard. "This is payback, isn't it?"

"Absolutely." Ginny did a somewhat 'happy dance' in the chair and gave him a smarmy look. "One of the fashion witches catch your eye, then? Or did you and Gwennog..."

"For fuck's sake, it's Katie Bell."

"Language." She quickly glanced over to see that Warren held Lily's full attention and then snapped back to her brother. "Really? Katie?" Ginny's expression softened. "When did that happen?"

"When all of this kicked off. Hadn't seen her in years, and then she comes in with the grand prize lot and...well, you know how it works. We've been out a few times since then."

Rolling her tongue around in her mouth for a bit, Ginny looked at him intently. Finally, as if she'd come to a decision, she nodded. "Right. Ok, even though you totally don't deserve it here's the deal, I'll keep Mum off you for as long as possible." She turned to check on Lily, happy to see that Warren was washing her hair. "And as a thank you for Mike. He's been really sweet to her, but it's been hard to see her. First crush, you know how those are. She told me she's going to marry him."

Charlie nodded. "Thanks. And yeah, I remember you having a crush when you were that age, said the same thing..." His words trailed off as Ginny gave him a look indicating that he was being thick. After a moment it clicked. "Bloody hell, you actually _did_ marry your crush. Well, Mike's a good guy. He'll be a nice addition to the family."

Ginny sat back in the chair and tucked a leg underneath her. "I don't know how Mum did it. I really don't. And you, mister, you be nice to Katie. Does she know what she's getting into?"

Charlie made a rude noise with his lips. "Of course, she's been out on the Reserve. She knows."

"Not that, idiot. That she's going to be in all the photos. The gossip rags will have a field day." Something that had been niggling at her resurfaced. "So what's with everyone acting mental in your house?"

"Christ." He took a big drink of beer. "It's in the fine print, apparently. There will be tours of my place tonight during the ball. The last big thing on this parade of annoying crap. To be honest I'm looking forward to it all being over, can't wait to change everything."

"Hmmm..." Ginny gave him a grin. "Maybe you can have Katie come over so she can help redecorate. Make it more comfortable for her when..."

He reached over and flicked her ear. "I take it back, you're just like Mum."

-ooo-

The Hecate Ball was a tradition that had endured for centuries, only paused during certain events like goblin wars or dark lords. According to the witches' guilds, associations and clubs that had been sponsors over the years the stated goal was to 'engender an appreciation of magic, culminating in an event celebrating the spirit of giving.' That was the official line. For most of the men and some women who had been unenthusiastic about the whole thing it was simply an excuse to buy a new dress or robe, endure inane chat, dance badly and spend entirely too many Galleons. Even those who grumbled about it did find at least some parts of it enjoyable, in retrospect, but some were more enthusiastic than others. It had endured all the whims of current taste, from having only house-elf servers ages ago to the ill-fated (and still remarked upon) disaster of 1896 when someone had thought that having the hosts arrive in one of the new Muggle automobile contraptions would be a good idea. That had ended in a near riot and multiple St. Mungo's occupants, not to mention one family enduring a century-long ban on attendance. Some things, though, were eternal; very tiny sandwiches on floating trays, the first band was something refined to be followed by a more current band, someone would get excessively drunk and there would be photographers. Always photographers. Outside of Quidditch the Hecate Ball was the most photographed event in magical Britain.

This was news to Charlie Weasley. He sat in the small room off of the ballroom with his sister and niece, sipping a cup of very strong, black coffee. He had to admit the dress that Lily wore looked rather nice on her, a shockingly-appropriate dress for a little girl; he'd half expected them to put her in one of those awful things like Ginny was wearing but apparently someone in the fashion department had a lick of sense. Ginny, on the other hand...it was some black thing with straps and slits and tight enough that she couldn't fully sit on the chair, instead she had to perch on the end. Served her right, all the little comments she'd been making about him and Katie. Both of them were happy with what Warren had done with their hair, thank Merlin. One of the swarms of witches with clipboards came into the room, told him that they had ten minutes left and popped out, causing everyone to stand. He was wondering if he could find Warren and get a pull of of the flask when Ginny stepped up to him.

"Listen." She reached up and adjusted the extremely fussy bow tie and collar of his dress robes. "I know you hate this, but it'll all be over soon. Think of all the publicity for the reserve. You've had quite a bit of donations since this all happened, right?"

He gently moved her hands away from his tie. "It's fine, Gin-Gin." Nodding quickly he agreed. "Yes, quite a few. We'll be able to make the modifications to the nesting enclosures now. Thought that would take a couple of years, but..."

"But nothing. This is the end of it. All done after this." She glanced over to see Lily devoting her attention to Bitsy. "And if I'm honest this has been good for Lily, even though she did it in the worst possible manner, lying to Harry and...I know what it's like to be the youngest, and the only girl."

He smirked. "Boys are fit to be tied, aren't they?"

"Merlin, I..."

Outside the music began to swell and they heard the head of the contest begin to speak with a magically amplified voice. A clipboard witch seemingly appeared out of nowhere next to them, lining them up, Lily next to Charlie with Ginny behind slightly. She looked at them with a tone of exasperation. "Where is Mr. Potter? Too late to be helped, as soon as the curtains open that's your cue to walk out."

Ginny leaned forward and whispered 'I'm going to kill him' in Charlie's ear. That caused him to laugh, the exact moment that the curtains opened, flashbulbs exploding in staccato bursts, and for a moment Charlie thought that it was finally, finally going to be over.

-ooo-

At first it wasn't bad. He sat on stage with Lily next to him while behind them the photographs were magically expanded and played in a slideshow of sorts. The story of how Lily had entered him into the contest was retold, and then when certain pictures were displayed the person or group responsible for the prize came onstage and detailed their portion of the grand prize. He'd never actually met the wizard responsible for his garden, but the bloke had done a nice job of making things very nice and useful; not only were there very fragrant flowers and trees but out back by the kitchen window were plants to help with cooking and even a few medicinal herbs. The architectural witch was a no-nonsense woman who had made sure all the structures were completely sound, causing him to nod along appreciatively to all the thoughtful touches she had made. It kind of made him embarrassed that he had never really interacted with them, but then again the day they did all that he had been off on a broom ride with Katie.

Katie. While the pictures behind him changed to the interior of his house and Lavender began excitedly speaking he started scanning the seats in front of the stage, trying to see her. They had agreed not to meet before the event, too much of a logistical nightmare, but to Charlie everything going on currently was just a preamble to the main event of the night; dancing with her. It was while wondering what she was wearing that he located all of his family members. Mum and Dad, right up front, Mum looking so pleased that she might explode. A few rows back were Bill and Fleur, both of them dressed to the nines, thankfully with George and Angelina next to them. Apparently they needed a buffer for Fleur at events like this. Off to the side, one row back, were Ron and Hermione, Harry next to Hermione with a look on his face like James and Albus when they were expecting a punishment. Served him right, Ginny was going to let him hear about it. He didn't stay too long on poor Harry, though, as he was looking for Katie.

Before he could look further Hannah Abbot walked onstage, patting him softly on the shoulder before stepping to her mark. As he listened to Hannah describe the kitchen design he realised why he hadn't seen Katie; she wouldn't be out in the crowd, she would be presenting her broom. Obvious, now that he thought of it, but it somehow made him a little more nervous. That wasn't helped by the person who caught his eye and winked at him; Gwennog, dressed very nicely in a gold dress that showed off her cleavage. Thankfully she leaned over and kissed the older man next to her. It was at that moment, thinking that Gwennog was doing him a favour by showing up with a date that Hannah stopped speaking and stepped offstage.

Katie swept up to her mark, Charlie's new broom levitated behind her. She went forward with only a single small look at him, but she could tell from the look in his eyes that Hannah had been right about the dress. She wasn't sure it was worth the Galleons, but Hannah had insisted. The fashion witches had all complimented her the moment she had arrived, not to mention that the look on Lavender's face was worth every Gnut. It was also worth that good bottle of firewhisky to have Warren do her hair. As the electric blue train of the dress flowed behind her she stepped up to the spot glowing softly at the front of the stage, cast the spell with her wand and smiled as she began her comments, magically amplified voice much more confident than she seemed. Speaking about her broom design wasn't hard, she could do that in her sleep. It was the fact that everything would be out soon about her and Charlie, that was making her slightly nervous. She'd expected photographers and a crowd, obviously, but seeing them there in and such a number…

Charlie couldn't keep his eyes off her. That dress...damn. If that was from one of the fashion lot he'd have to personally thank them later. It wasn't like Gwennog's, one that showed cleavage, far from it. The neck was rather high, ending in some sort of choker thing, but the shoulders were bare, covered only by some sort of silvery shawl wrap thingy. Unlike Ginny's thing that was so tight across her arse he thought it would split if she sat properly Katie's dress was long and flared away from her until it was down to her feet. That wasn't what he was concentrating on, though, it was the back. Or lack of back. From the top of the collar thing almost to the beginning of her arse there was no dress, giving him a wonderful view of her back. Somehow that seemed sexier to him than if she'd shown up in a bikini.

He listened closely to her presentation, still in awe of her brilliance, crafting not only a broom but one that would be absolutely perfect for a dragon keeper, and for some reason he thought back to when he was Quidditch captain, the year that she and the twins tried out for the Gryffindor team. It was while he was thinking of the little girl on the broom that looked too big for her and comparing that to the creative, smart and amazing woman before him that he heard his name. Coming back to the present he saw everyone clapping, looking at him, and it was Lily's tug on the sleeve of his dress robes that reminded him of his part in everything.

After standing on the mark and waiting for the applause to die down he began looking around the ballroom. The walls were covered with photographs, but instead of the high-end ones the photos were of him and his keepers working the reserve, speaking to the contest people, a small moment with Lily and others like that. Obviously those were the photos that Eddie had taken. As the applause dwindled away he made a mental note to thank her later. The witch in charge of the whole thing tapped him with a _Sonorous_ spell and he cleared his throat.

"I'd like to thank everyone involved with this project. To say that I was surprised to win the Grand Prize is an understatement." He waited to let the laughter die down a bit and then realised that he was going to need to make sure he did this properly; the idea of just saying a few words and getting offstage wasn't going to work. He reached into his dress robes, pulling out his spectacles and a folded-up piece of parchment. After adjusting his spectacles he began reading the parchment. This was the part that he'd dreaded, the long thank you portion of his speech, but it was necessary. Everyone had done a wonderful job on his prizes (even if he was going to reverse his house the minute he could) and the charities involved had received a good deal of Galleons. Not to mention the Reserve's donations.

As he began to work through the final few names on the parchment list he realised a couple of things. One, he'd left the top of the posh dress robe unbuttoned slightly when he'd retrieved his spectacles and the parchment. Two, the pocket dragons were nearing their feeding time. Three, the little dragon he'd named after Gwennog was just like her namesake, as the tiny red dragon was currently clawing it's way up his shirt and into the full view of everyone assembled. Apparently the dragon liked the limelight just as much as his ex-wife.

The appearance of the pocket dragon started the flashbulb barrage yet again, some of the attendees at the front began crowding closer, and Charlie's comment of _'fucking hell, back off you idiots'_ went out across the ballroom clear as a bell owing to the still active _Sonorous_. Charlie quickly plucked the red dragon from his shoulder, stowed it quickly in the little sling and fastened his dress robe buttons. Thankfully the witch in charge of everything came over, made another statement, removed the spell from Charlie and announced that the dancing would now begin.

-ooo-

At first the dancing went well, as Charlie shared a dance with Lily, photographers crowding around as expected. Once the song ended Ginny and a subdued Harry joined them, but Lily couldn't have cared less because Mike Nakamura had arrived. Yes, Charlie knew that he was there for the pocket dragons, but that didn't matter as Lily grabbed Mike's hand. Thankfully Mike just nodded at Charlie, but he did motion to his watch at one point, reminding his boss that feeding time was at hand.

It was while thinking of how he was going to slip away from the crowd to feed the dragons that Charlie felt a hand on his shoulder. He expected it to be his mum or one of the society witches but as he turned the smile lit up his face.

"Katie. You look amazing."

"Thank you." She stood next to him for a moment and then turned to face him, her hands smoothing the lapels of his robe. "I wouldn't have picked this for you but it is rather nice. Do you have any more official..."

"Don't care." He took her hand and led her towards the dance floor, taking her in his arms. "As far as I'm concerned I'm done with all that."

Katie blinked as the flashbulbs went off yet again. "I don't think that's the case." After blinking again she raised an eyebrow, seeing the movement on his chest, and then moved closer to him. "Are they all in there or just the one?"

"What? Oh, uh, yeah. Except Lily's. It's in her purse. Feeding time's close."

"Um..." Katie's eyes widened. "I think you should probably...Merlin, one of them is eating through your..."

"OW!" Charlie let go of Katie, stepped back and quickly began undoing his dress robe. "Dammit, ok, ok, let's get you lot..."

As before Gwennog the pocket dragon was insistent on causing a scene. She let go a tiny puff of flame, burning through not only the shirt and dress robe but also the sling that Charlie had fashioned to keep all the little pocket dragons close to him. This meant several things happened simultaneously; Gwennog the pocket dragon gave her little wings a few flaps and realised that she could fly. The other pocket dragons decided to follow her lead, began to flap their wings and discovered with varying degrees of success that they could fly, letting out tiny squeaks of happiness along with some small flames. Everyone in attendance who had not been dancing (which was the vast majority) realised that all the pocket dragons were not only there but were flying amongst them, pocket dragons that they had unsuccessfully been able to obtain for their own or for their children. Bitsy, in Lily's purse, had heard his siblings and had begun squirming in the purse, causing Lily to stop and for Mike to kneel down next to her, pulling her close to keep her from being trampled by the witches and wizards all crowding around.

Charlie watched in dismay as the pocket dragons began exploring the limits of their flying as they darted off in all directions, some more steady than others. One dragon flew right towards the band as the music suddenly ceased and a violin arced through the air, hitting the cello player in the head. Another dragon ended up dodging a witch's grasp and tumbled into the cake at the main table, completely destroying the cake as it struggled to get free before a man grabbed it. The pyramid of floating champagne glasses? Destroyed. Everywhere it seemed there was a pocket dragon flying about while people tried to catch them. It seemed like a eternity to Charlie, watching them fly about before he came to his senses, but afterwards he was told that it was only a minute or two. He pulled his wand out, cast a very hurried _Sonorous_ spell and yelled "EVERYONE STOP RIGHT NOW. STOP OR I WILL...IF ANYONE HURTS THOSE DRAGONS THEY WILL BE IN SERIOUS FUCKING TROUBLE!"

A sharp, very loud bang got everyone's attention. Harry Potter stood with his wand raised. As everyone had stopped he glared at everyone as if they were first year Aurors. "The pocket dragons are endangered creatures and harming them is a crime. I have no problem arresting every single one of you. Everyone will leave the ballroom in a quiet, orderly fashion. No tours, this is over. NOW."

As the security witches and wizards began to funnel the unhappy guests out of the ballroom Charlie stood in the middle of the dancefloor with Katie. Thankfully the pocket dragons had all done what young dragons always do after finding their wings, migrate to the highest point possible. For young dragons like Welsh Greens and the like that usually meant a mountaintop, but at the moment the pocket dragons all perched on top of the chandelier at the center of the ballroom's high ceiling.

"That was spectacular. Have to come more often to these things." George stood next to Charlie, nodding as he took in the complete and utter shambles of the ballroom. "Did you see..."

"No, George. I didn't." Charlie's tone was clipped. "Kinda busy."

"Oh yes, definitely. Or is that later?" He winked at Katie. "That's some dress." George stopped as one of the pocket dragons flew down from the chandelier in little spirals, finally landing on his shoulder. "Well, now, how about that? Thought the little buggers didn't like me."

Charlie peered at the little white dragon. "Losing their imprinting, sort of. Red hair, so you're..."

"A-ha. Right." George smiled at his brother. "So should I tell Ang..."

"You're not keeping it." Charlie held out his hand and the white dragon crawled forward into his hand, then up his arm. "After this debacle I think..."

George shook him off. "Let me ask your better half. Oh Katie, dear, could you ask..." As both Charlie and Katie told him to shut up George laughed. "Oh, this is brilliant. Can't wait to see the Prophet about you two. Wonder who won the Galleons? Better go see, but if it's Ron he'll be too smug to handle. Have to do something to his tea."

As Katie and Charlie watched George wander off the rest of the dragons began to descend from the chandelier, most landing on Charlie but a couple missed their mark and landed on Katie. Charlie pulled one out of her hair, mussing her smooth bangs, while she plucked one from where it clung to her stomach. "The Galleons?"

"Ah." Charlie took the dragons from her and began stuffing them carefully into his robe pocket. "My family had a bet on my date to this thing."

"Really?" Katie raised an eyebrow. "I should have known. Fred an' George used to have all sorts of betting action going on at school. Old habits."

"Yeah, old habits." Charlie stood there with her in the debris of the ballroom, squirming dragons in his robe pocket, and pulled her close, kissing her softly. "But I like new habits as well."

-ooo-

Charlie took off his spectacles and stretched, arching his back and causing it to pop several times. He put the spectacles in their case on the top of his desk and reached for the tea, downing the remains of the cup even though it had grown cold. The reports from the junior keepers could wait. It was just a formality, his review of them, as Mike would have made sure everything was up to snuff, but as the head of the Reserve he did need to take a quick look through. All part of the job.

He had just closed the folders about the new hatchlings when a small blue blur zipped through the open window and landed on the edge of his teacup. "Hello there, Bitsy. I take it Lily's here, then?" The little dragon blew out a puff of smoke, cocked his head from side to side and then curled up in the teacup. "Right, spoiled little chicken." He took the teacup and began heading into the house.

Katie met him at the door. "Supper's almost ready, Lily's here..." She stopped as he raised the teacup to show her Bitsy. "Alright, then. Already knew about Lily. But I've got to go to the shop, want to finish that 'special' order..."

He held up his free hand to stop her as he sat the teacup on the table. "It's fine, fine. Lily and I will manage fine. Tell the old man 'hello' for me."

After kissing Katie goodbye he turned his attention to supper, stirring the sauce and contemplating how much pasta to make. If Lily was there at the Reserve it meant that Mike would probably be joining them as well. Hopefully Lily would take Mike's news about his engagement well, as Charlie wasn't looking forward to dealing with a crying niece.

The pasta was almost done when the door opened. Lily was in the lead, followed by Mike but then it was Harry who was the last one in the kitchen. Not completely unexpected, Charlie thought, as he calculated how much pasta was finished. Usually when Lily visited the Reserve Ginny would retrieve her after a bit, but apparently Harry had the job this time.

Supper was enjoyable, as Lily told him about the things she and Bitsy had been doing, how she was training him. Then she launched into how it was totally unfair that Mike was going to be gone for such a long time on his honeymoon, a word that was said without much enthusiasm. Charlie and Harry shared a glance at that but said nothing. Eventually Mike indicated that it was time to go on rounds, and if she wanted to that Lily could accompany him. She mentioned that it would be much easier if she could be on her own broom. Harry began whistling and looking at the ceiling. Charlie laughed. Such an easy mark.

He leaned over. "Ok, here's the deal, Lily. You can borrow my broom, yes, the one Katie made but if, and only if, you listen to absolutely everything Mike says and..."

She squealed, hopped out of her chair and hugged Charlie and then began tugging on Mike. After the two of them were gone, the kitchen door closed behind them, Harry began clearing the plates by hand.

"You don't have to do that, you know." Charlie took out his wand and began floating the dishes towards the sink.

"I know, but..." Harry shrugged. "She's dragon-mad, you know. Pretty sure I know what she's going to want to do after Hogwarts if this keeps up. Were you like that?"

"Nah." Charlie shook his head. "She's worse. I didn't actually have a dragon."

"Merlin." Harry sighed and leaned back in the chair. "This place looks better, though. Like a dragon keeper lives here."

"Haven't you seen it since...huh. Guess not." Charlie waved his wand to start the dishes and nodded. "Yeah. We made sure Lavender had all the photos for her portfolio or whatever it's called, and then we changed it out."

"Yeah, heard about that." Harry smirked.

"Who?" Charlie leaned forward. "Mum? I swear she's got me an' Katie married off as it is."

"Nah, Ginny."

Charlie laughed. "Sorry, she's just like Mum. Don't ever tell her, though."

"Are you mental? Hell, no." Harry coughed. "Uh, besides, um...yeah. Kinda like Molly. And Arthur, if I'm..." He paused. "You know it's been what, three, four months after the ball, right?" As Charlie raised an eyebrow he just pushed forward. "So when I won the money on you an' Katie I took Ginny for a holiday and..."

Charlie's laugh was loud. "Serves you right! Four, eh? How happy was she?"

Harry put a hand over his heart. "I've sworn not to ever talk about that conversation."

"Smart." Charlie leaned back. "Ok, go pick up the pixie. I know that Mike's already done rounds, he just does that for Lily, just once around the Welsh Greens. Should be done by now."

Harry stood and adjusted his glasses. "You know you spoil her rotten."

"Of course." Charlie smiled. "If it hadn't been for that bloody contest..." He looked over to all of the photos that covered one wall. Photos of him and Katie, taken at times he didn't even know the photographer was there, taken at the ballroom before everything went mental, taken as they stood in the middle of the ballroom after everything went mental, pocket dragons landing on them. At the Burrow, with everyone standing behind Molly and Arthur. Bill, Fleur and their family. George, Angelina...Ron and Hermione, Percy and Audrey, Harry and Ginny...all the kids were in the front with Molly and Arthur, of course, but then he smiled as there, right next to Harry and Ginny were him and Katie, with Lily right in front of them, Katie's hand on Lily's shoulder.

"It's fine." Harry opened the door. "Especially as it's another boy."

As Harry called for Lily, Charlie turned back to the dishes, watching as they finished up the soaping, rinsing and drying. He liked having everything in place when Katie came back from the shop, especially as she had been working on that new dragon keeper broom, the smaller one, perfect size for a little red-haired dragon keeper who hadn't started Hogwarts yet.

 _ **A/N: And there you have it, the end of a fluff piece I should have finished ages ago. There was a ton of backstory stuff that could have made it into the piece but it just didn't feel right. This is fluff, after all.**_

 _ **A special thanks goes out to BadMum for help and encouragement along the way, as well as all the Teachers' Lounge alumni. As always, thanks for reading and review if you wish.**_


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